Sunday, January 24, 2010

Portmanteau is a French word meaning "suitcase" and was first used in English by the writer Lewis Carroll in the novel "Through the Looking Glass", where one of the characters, explaining the meaning of a word says: "...a portmanteau: there are two meanings packed up in one word".
This is a very productive way of creating new words. You probably have heard about "Brangelina" and you surely know that it means both Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the mythical Hollywood couple who, unfortunately, are said to be divorcing these days.

What about "Bollywood"? Yes, that's a blend between Bombay and Hollywood, and you use it to talk about the blooming film industry in India.
Some more examples are:

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

I recently came across a web in which you can see many cards with drawings showing the typical British sense of humour that pokes fun at cultural institutions such as pubs, afternoon tea, etc. They have been created by two English teachers called Martyn Ford and Peter Legon, who have sold thousands of copies of their book "How to be British". You can see the cards in this link. And here is an example of the cards. By the way, can you spot the mistake the student of English makes? Post your comments!

Let's learn some words related to jobs. Click on the link to see some pictures of people doing their jobs. Then check what you have learnt here.In this page you can learn more jobs and then check .And finally, let's have a bit of fun:(Cartoon by Crazy-jokes.com)

Friday, January 1, 2010

Well, it's that time of year again when you make resolutions to improve your life. You know, the kind of thing like: "I will do more exercise", "I will eat less sweet things", "I'll learn English"...

We are really determined to get our goals by the first of January, but unfortunatelly, it doesn't last long. Be sensible and try to set goals that you can achieve. What are your resolutions for 2010? If you're short of ideas, have a look at this site. Blog your comments!